Czechoslovak Legion

The Czechoslovak Legion was a volunteer force of Czechs and some Slovaks formed by the Triple Entente powers in 1914 to fight against the Central Powers during World War I. The legion consisted of nationalists who sought to achieve Bohemia and Moravia's independence from Austria-Hungary, and the force grew to have tens of thousands of troops; most were Czechs, and 8% were Slovaks. The legion fought in the Russian Civil War against the Bolsheviks after fighting on the Western Front with France and the United Kingdom, and the legion controlled much of the Trans-Siberian Railway and Siberia at times. In 1920, the 67,739 remaining legion troops were evacuated from Vladivostok at the end of the civil war, returning to an independent Czechoslovakia.